Killing Me Softly: A Thriller Romance Novel [FIRST DRAFT]

Chapter 7

Don't do anything crazy, I thought to myself when I drove by the Black Gold Inn and saw Theo's Jeep parked there outside of room 107 at 4:26 in the morning.

He was there. I knew he was. It still didn't explain why he was there, though. What about his parents or his sister, Amelia? Why wasn't he staying with them? Did he not have other friends to stay with? It seemed odd to me that Theo stayed by himself in a podunk hotel room instead of a more luxurious hotel.

I'd left Donnie off at his BMW after we had spent hours talking in my car earlier that morning. I was exhausted but knew I needed to make it to Janice's before she got off at 5:00 AM.

Now that I knew where Theo was staying and what I had learned about him from Donnie, I was ready for more.

I drove past the hospital on the way to Janice's house and saw her white Mazda parked there. She had not ended her shift yet, but I could not wait to share with her the recording on my iPad I did between Donnie and me. It was a journalist's gold. That is if any of it was true.

My low fuel icon appeared on my dashboard and made a dinging noise just as I pulled into the gas station on the corner. I knew I needed to fill it up before returning to Janice's place.

I was standing at the pump, waiting for it to finish, when a patrol car pulled into the station and parked on the other side of the pumps.

For some reason, I became nervous. Not because it was a cop but because I wondered when I would run into Jamie again. I eyed the cruiser, noticing it was for DeWitt County.

I was so tired I could feel the bags under my eyes, but my thoughts were racing. I was more than wide awake and thought I could skip sleeping since I had napped in the car with Donnie, even though I had not intended to.

It wasn't Jamie who stepped out of the cruiser. It was someone else I did not recognize, and I released a deep breath to calm my nerves. I don't know why I was so nervous about seeing Jamie again. It's not like we were enemies or anything, and I most definitely wasn't in love with him like I was with Theo. Perhaps it was the fact that I felt he might be mad at me for some reason. I didn't know. It was just a hunch after we had lost touch.

When I got to Janice's place, the damn bloodhounds barked so loud they probably woke Janice's parents when I arrived. They were good guard dogs, but I hated that they announced my arrival.

I made it to Janice's room and laid on the other side of her queen bed, the side I knew she didn't sleep on and had deemed my sleeping spot for the weekend.

I kicked off my shoes and relaxed. The next thing I knew, I was out cold, sleeping atop the blankets and sheets.

"Hey, wake up." Janice nudged me. "You're taking up the whole bed. Scoot over."

Janice looked dead tired. After a long 10-hour shift, I didn't blame her for looking that way.

I shifted back over to the right side of the bed as she crawled in with her PJs. She lay there on her back and sighed.

"Word has it the funeral will be next week for Mary Jo," she said.

"I know. Donnie told me," I said sleepily, not thinking.

"Donnie? Who the hell is Donnie?" she asked.

"He's Mary Jo's half-brother. I met him last night. He told me the family is still trying to finalize things," I said.

Janice rolled her head to look at me. "Mary Jo has a half-brother?"

"Yep,"

"Who knew? Donnie who? What's his last name?"